Over the years I have taken material ,photos,glass ornaments , shoes,and who knows what , and produced a canvas in needlepoint, even a cookie...yes a cookie...a customer sent a box of her favorite cookies to have several little cookie ornaments painted to match....from soup to nuts....sometimes I wonder if I am being put to a divine test to see if I can do it...It is a challenge....to take something made of flour and eggs...baked and produce a cookie like piece of needlepoint....the holes slow you down...but then something like a plaid is so suited that it just flies off the drawing board .......in the end you are bound by the size of the canvas and how many stitches you have to work with...it is a game sometimes of fool the eye...you can't shade by blending so you have to use the canvas to it's best advantage...I have been at this a long time and the canvas and I understand each other..lol...we are cozy and know each others limits...noooooooo, the canvas does not talk to me in a audible way...but it does convey its strengths and weaknesses.......time and practice is all the young needlepoint artist needs....
and a good set of eyes that can withstand abuse...lol......and above all a love of the craft.....it is not for all artists....it takes great concentration and patience...like most things worth achieving , it takes time ......Judy Harper always said that anything in needlepoint is possible if you just pay attention to the canvas....
Over the years I have taken material ,photos,glass ornaments , shoes,and who knows what , and produced a canvas in needlepoint, even a cookie...yes a cookie...a customer sent a box of her favorite cookies to have several little cookie ornaments painted to match....from soup to nuts....sometimes I wonder if I am being put to a divine test to see if I can do it...It is a challenge....to take something made of flour and eggs...baked and produce a cookie like piece of needlepoint....the holes slow you down...but then something like a plaid is so suited that it just flies off the drawing board .......in the end you are bound by the size of the canvas and how many stitches you have to work with...it is a game sometimes of fool the eye...you can't shade by blending so you have to use the canvas to it's best advantage...I have been at this a long time and the canvas and I understand each other..lol...we are cozy and know each others limits...noooooooo, the canvas does not talk to me in a audible way...but it does convey its strengths and weaknesses.......time and practice is all the young needlepoint artist needs....
